Mobile medical chairs are extensively used for patient transfer and transport at medical facilities. These chairs have to be multifunctional and adjustable to quickly and safely move a patient from a sitting position to supine positions, and from a lowered position to allow patient access to the chair, to an elevated position to facilitate various medical procedures. Some of these medical chairs are also used in radiographic and fluoroscopic imaging wherein the patient is allowed to remain in the medical chair during such procedures and have to provide radiolucent properties and patient-positioning capabilities to allow for such procedure. To provide such varied use, medical chairs known in the art normally employ a multitude of electronic, mechanical, and safety equipment to facilitate safe positioning and transport of a patient, with maximum comfort and minimum inconvenience to the patient. However, the multitude of equipment required for optimum function of mobile medical chairs are bulky. As such, one or more functions of these chairs is usually restricted to protect the chair or the patient. For instance, guidelines by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) recommend that to be accessible, the height of chairs should be between 16 and 19 inches from the floor. However, to protect chair equipment normally found under the chair seat, chairs currently known in the art cannot be lowered to this height without compromising some functionality or flexibility. Similarly, chairs currently known in the art provide for pivoting armrests mechanisms to facilitate the access for a patient to the chair and to remove the armrests to facilitate access to medical equipment and personnel. However, such armrests limit the movement of the chairs when the armrests are not in an upright position.
As such, there is a need in the art for a multifunctional and adjustable mobile medical chair that is accessible to all patients, including patients with disabilities, and that can provide safe and quick movement of patients.